Fall Break

We have had a great time in Arizona for Fall Break! I already blogged about Wednesday's Muppet party. On Thursday we enjoyed hanging out with the cousins. We started at Amy's house, and Ryan took most of the kids to the nearby park. I love that our kids are getting old enough that when we were at the house, we could just let them play while Ryan and I enjoyed visiting with Amy, Kaley, and Cassi! Later Cassi and I took the younger kids (Joshua and Elizabeth) back to her house. I helped her prepare Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner, and again it was great to be able to visit while the kids had fun together!

On Saturday, the dads took the kids bowling (I went with Cheryl to get a pedicure)! Then we all met at In N Out for lunch. The kids and I relaxed at Grandma and Grandpa's house for quiet time in the afternoon while Ryan and his parents hung some pictures at the dance studio. We ended the evening with dinner and all the family at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Benjamin

 Joshua (with Brock on the side)

Nathan

so cute!

Elizabeth's quiet time started in the car -- it's been a fun week!

Nathan has really enjoyed playing basketball at Grandma's house this trip. I was able to sneak a few pictures un-detected!

 We love our family and are so grateful we could come visit for a few days! It was a fun vacation!

on the way home

Am I a Man or a Muppet?

The kids have a 5-day weekend for Fall Break this year, so we drove down to Mesa to visit Ryan's family. All of the cousins are also on fall break, so it works out perfectly! Today we had a great time at Amy and Kaley's dance studio. They planned a cute Muppet-themed party with decorations, games, pizza, and cookies!

awaiting instructions for the first game

 playing tic-tac-toe -- the grid is on the floor and the kids are the game pieces

the Hokey Pokey

What else should we do in a dance studio? Dance, of course!

Duck, Duck, Goose!

the big cousins playing Duck, Duck, Goose

The kids divided into two groups and took turns recording a music video to the song, "Am I a Man or a Muppet?" Later everyone got together and recorded it one more time. Everyone loved "playing" their instruments, and I'm sure the music video will turn out great!

Benjamin loved it until he had to share the guitar!

Bryson and Nathan on vocals

Joshua playing piano

Adam and Elizabeth

Another game was Musical Chairs

One of the last activities was a dress-up relay game. Each kid had to put on all of the clothing, tag each side of the room, then run over to Cassi and the video camera and tell a joke (like Fozzie Bear) before going back to take everything off and tag the next team member. This one was definitely a fun one to watch!

one last treat to take home

I am always amazed at my sisters-in-law's creativity! Thanks for a great start to our Fall Break!

A Week in Washington D.C.

As we drove home from the family reunion, we stopped by the airport and dropped Mom, Sam, and Nathan off. Many months ago, we planned for Nathan to visit Grandma and Grandpa Anders all by himself for a long week. Ryan and I thought it would be good for him to get that one-on-one time with his grandparents. We also want him to have the chance to see the sites in Washington D.C. before he learns U.S. history in 5th grade this coming school year. He has been so excited!

Since I wasn't there, I'll let him tell us about his trip:

The day I first got there, it was Sunday. I got out some Play-dough and made a sheep. I made it with a yellow body and then put black dots on top for its wool. Later in the week, Grandma taught me how to cross-stitch. I am working on a cross-stitch of Utah for my 4th grade teacher.

On Monday, Grandpa took me to Washington, D.C. We parked near the Jefferson Memorial, so we went there first. I learned that in Thomas Jefferson's time people could challenge each other to a gun duel if they were mad at each other. He won a duel and people still thought of him as a good guy.

There were quotes on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial

Then Grandpa and I got on a tour bus. We drove around for a while, taking many pictures of Washington D.C. The bus took us to the International Spy Museum, which was my favorite museum!

the Lincoln Memorial

another side of the Lincoln Memorial

The tour bus dropped us off and we went to a big grassy field in between the White House and the Washington Monument. After a while we saw a helicopter land in front of the White House. We watched President Obama get in and fly away (we were on the wrong side, so we could only see his feet)!

Back on the bus, we passed a lot more buildings, including the Capitol. It would have been faster to just walk because the bus took an indirect route compared to what we could have walked.

the Smithsonian castle

Washington Monument -- once again we couldn't go inside, this time because there had been an earthquake a few months ago

 There is a big river separating Washington D.C. from Virginia

Later in the week, Grandpa and I visited the Pentagon. We went to the memorial for the victims of the September 11 attacks. While standing at the memorial, you can look at the Pentagon and notice that a lot of the wall is a different color of stone -- that is where they repaired the wall after the attack.

this is the memorial

notice the right side of the building has darker stone than the left -- the right side has been repaired

Later in the week we got to visit Nanee in Norfolk. We spent the night and went to Busch Gardens amusement park. I was too busy having fun to take any pictures!

We spent two more days in Washington D.C. We went to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing where they print the money, and we went to the Holocaust Museum. We also went to the Library of Congress . . . I was disappointed that they wouldn't let us go see the books because we didn't have a library card. To qualify for a library card, you need to have a driver's license!

One million dollars in ten dollar bills!

I am glad that I got to visit Grandma and Grandpa. I got lots of ice cream and Diet Coke and tacos and chicken nuggets! I really enjoyed my trip!